Freshly Made Colour

Hello again bloggers!

Well, it's got to that time of the school holidays where the kids are driving me ever so slightly loopy and getting crafty in the evenings is definitely providing me with some much needed kid free time. This time I turned to Freshly Made Sketches for some therapy with this lovely sketch by Allisa:

This design is normally my 'go to' design when I want to do a quick card...5 punched squares and a bit of stamping and I'm usually done. Not this time though - I decided to used my Marvellous Squares die and since it's so intricate, it took quite a while to cut all the shapes. I then had to stick each piece individually on to the black MME paper, so although it's clean and simple, it actually took forever! The stamping has been done with Waltzingmouse's Folk Art Medallion set.

I'm also going to enter this one over at the Simon Says Stamp (Wednesday challenge) where the theme is 'Anything Goes.'

That's enough therapy for me today....feeling better already...

Have a good one!

Claire x

Colour at Last!

G'day again folks,

Told you I'd be back again today with a little bit of colour for MME's September sketch challenge:

I really wanted to do a scrapbook page but every time I sit down and try and do one, the scrappy mojo just doesn't appear. It's really frustrating me now...an ideas on how to get it back would be greatly appreciated!

Over at Simon Says Stamp (Wednesday challenge), the theme is 'anything goes' so I'm going to pop it over there too!

Short but sweet. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Claire x

Retrosketches #83

Morning bloggers!

Hope you're having a lovely, lazy Sunday morning.

It's my final week filling in for Kasia over at Retrosketches so a huge thanks to Arielle for letting me join in the fun every week....I've loved every minute of it! This week's sketch is based on this wonderful card by  Laurie:

I stamped the kraft background in white pigment ink using a bloom stamp from Bo Bunny and then stamped over the top with a Kaisercraft script stamp in chocolate. I wanted to 'pretty' it up a little so I used a Marvellous Squares Spellbinders die to cut the triangle.

I have to admit I'm in need of a little injection of colour on this blog at the moment. The last few cards have all had a neutral colour combo so there will be a second, slightly more colourful post a little later today for this months MME challenge.

Have a fabulous Sunday and thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Dynamic Duos - Kraft and Black

Hello again,

I'm off to get my beauty sleep in a few minutes but I thought I'd sneak in a second post today for the current Dynamic Duos challenge:

There's the option to do some wet embossing on this one so I did just that with the WMS Camellia bloom and leaves....still loving that new emboss folder!

Thanks for popping by again - have a great day!

Claire x

Courting Colour at Colour Q

Morning folks!

I've been keeping a little Colour Q secret over the last couple of weeks....I've just become the newest member of the Royal Court and I'm so excited to be included in this group of  talented ladies:

Arielle

Amy

Anita

Jen

LeAnne

Lisa

Melissa

Sandra

Sarah

Silke

Silvia

Tracey

So on to my first Colour Q assignment...this week happens to be one of my favourite combos - how lucky is that?

My PTI 'Grunge Me' set is getting a good workout at the moment - I stamped the circles repetitively on a piece of black card stock and embossed them in white. Some dry embossing, cutting and a few bright enamel spots and it was pretty much done.

So go and take a peek at the Colour Q blog for heaps of inspiration and ideas and link up by Monday September 30th for your chance to become a Colour Queen!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Retrosketches 82

Hello folks,

The crafty side of me has been a bit quiet this week...the kids have just started their Spring school holidays so not too much time for playing with paper. 

There's a great, new sketch over at Retrosketches based on Arielle's fabulous card here:

This one's a bit of a mish mash of leftovers from previous cards.  I had some old scraps of black cardstock with some flowers on it, stamped in Perfect Pearls. I punched a strip from this and added one of the 'experimental' butterflies I embossed using the goldleaf foil from my previous card.  The embossing folder is a new one that happened to fall into my shopping basket at the local craft store last week...I didn't think much else was needed, since it's such a detailed design.

Hope you have the chance to join in with the sketch this week - only one week left until my headlining days are over!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Freshly Made with Foil

Good morning bloggers!

Jen B has come up with a fabulous sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches...so many possibilities...I'm sure I'll be using this one again:

 I bought some multicoloured leaf foil a couple of weeks ago from my local craft store. The first time I used it was a total disaster...it just wouldn't stick to the sticky embossing powder and I ended up wasting an entire sheet of the stuff (and it's NOT cheap!) So, I went back to the craft store and got a bit of advice and it worked perfectly...I 'm really pleased with the result.  I used it with a Stampin' Up Papillon Potpourri butterfly. I searched every nook and cranny in my stash and couldn't find any matching buttons or brads to embellish it, so in the end I covered a couple of pearl brads in some Versamark, dipped it in the sticky emboss and added the foil to those too. The patterned paper is more of the pretty Japanese yuzen paper that I don't seem to be able to stop using lately!

Since the challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog is embossing, I'm also going to enter the card there. As well as using the foil, I've dry embossed the background.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday, thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Simple Silhouette

Hello again everyone,

My second post of the day for this week's Casology challenge:

When I saw this week's cue word was 'silhouette' I knew the possibilities were endless,  since I've a Silhouette Cameo on loan,  I was tempted to go for the flowery option but I ended up going for something a bit more grungier instead.   The background is the splatter stamp from PTI's Grunge Me set - I thought it would go perfectly with the guitar and would make a great teenage card! I added some Dimensional Magic to it and a touch of glitter for a bit of sparkle.

No more posts from me today...have a good one and thanks for stopping!

Claire x

Retro Sketches #81

Happy weekend to you folks!

There's another great sketch to begin your crafty week over at Retro Sketches and it's based on this fabulous card by September's Headliner, Michelle:

I've been contemplating buying a Silhouette Cameo for quite a while now and I just happened to be at a  a crafty friend's house and there's one sat on the floor, still in its box, doing absolutely nothing! She asked if I wanted to borrow it for a couple of months...Er...really? Did she even need to ask?!  Anyway, this is my first attempt at using it - I just made a simple grid of numbers set in a rectangle..so easy...even a muppet like me can use it!

Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with this week - see you soon!

Claire x

MME September Challenge

Hello bloggers!

I've gone a little mad for My Minds Eye this week - every card I've made seems to feature some papers from their gorgeous new Collections set. So I thought I may as well enter their September challenge where the theme is 'Labour Day.' Since Labour Day is a US holiday, it got me thinking about Bank holidays in the UK which were always (without fail)  soggy and wet.  Hence the theme of my card which features one of PTI's stamps from their Scattered Showers stamp set:

 I love that raindrop stamp, although it's absolutely tiny and will probably get vacuumed up at some point!  After stamping it in the blue I added a little Dimensional Magic to make it shine. It's for a very close friend who's going through a hard time at the moment...if I can't be there with a hug,  I have to send a card instead!

That's all folks, have a fabulous start to the weekend!

Claire x

A New Waltzingmouse Challenge

Afternoon bloggers,

There's a fabulous new challenge for all  of you Waltzingmouse Stamps fans out there, aptly called Waltzingmouse Fanatics.  I used to love doing the Saturday Sketch challenge over at the WMS blog so I just had to have a go at this week's sketch:

This is the first Christmas card I've done for this year and I wanted to use some non-traditional colours. I've used the Ornate Ornaments set, together with some MME papers. The bauble's been embossed in sparkly gold but doesn't look quite so sparkly in the photo!

Hope you get the chance to join in - thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Mojo Monday

Morning again folks,

Just playing with new stamps again so I used this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday:

My happy mail from PTI arrived a couple of days ago and I know I'm going to get so much use out of those Mixed Messages...I've been wanting some teeny tiny sentiments for ages.

I'm also popping this one into this week's Wednesday challenge over at Simon Says Stamp. The theme is Animal Antics...I'm hoping butterflies are classed as animals? If not, Mr Linky will have to delete my thumbnail!

Short and sweet today - have a fabulous Monday!

Claire x

Case This Sketch #44

Hello. Me again.

Just a short one - I've been playing around with some new stamps from PTI and did a quick card based on this lovely sketch over at Cas(e) This Sketch:

I've used glittery embossing powder and I have to say it looks a lot sparklier IRL!

Thanks for stopping again.

Claire x

Retro Sketch #80

Hello again folks,

Hope you're having a wonderful Sunday! I've woken up to a beautiful sunny morning and the news that we have a new prime minister here in Australia.  To be quite honest, I would have a voted for one of the Muppets if it meant no more election ads. I'm well and truly over it and I really do feel for my American friends, knowing how long the lead up to an election is over there!

On to another Retro Sketch (#80)  challenge and this time it's based on a card by yours truly.  If you want to see the original then have a quick peek here. I've also used the colours from this weeks Colour Q:

For some reason I find it quite difficult to use my own cards as inspiration so I stuck pretty closely to the original, but did a more feminine take on it. I used a Kaisercraft script stamp with some Versamark, then sponged some Basic Grey over the top of it (is it called ghost stamping or something - I'm not one for getting technical?) It's kind of shown up in the photo. The penny farthing image is from Stampin' Up's Timeless Talk set which I bought a couple of weeks ago  (along with a few other goodies.) I didn't use the twine this time...just wasn't working!

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping again!

Claire x

Feeling Japanese (Again!)

Hello folks,

I've just managed to sneak in another card before Mr Linky closes in a few hours - combining CAS-ual Friday's challenge of kraft+text with CASe This Sketch:

I was still feeling some Japanese inspiration and, since they were already out messing up my craft space, I reached for the Yuzen papers again. I stamped the little Sakura flower with Stazon onto gold shimmer card and die cut the leaves, then coloured them with a goldleaf pen so they showed up better against the kraft. The white embossed writing is from Kaisercraft's Oriental stamp and every time I use it I have no idea which way up the writing is meant to go!

Well that's all again folks....have a fabulous day!

Claire x

A Japanese Inspired Retro Sketch

Good morning folks,

I absolutely love Japanese Yuzen papers and have done ever since I made my very first card - I don't use it anywhere near as much as I should, particularly when I have so much of it lying around my stash. I thought I'd put it to good use for this week's Retro Sketch which is based on this beautiful card made by Laurie:

I always think 'less is more' with these type of papers so I kept it very simple. The gold ring is a chipboard circle that I've cut and embossed, then coloured with a goldleaf pen. It almost looks like a Nestability die doesn't it? I put a layer of vellum underneath and then stamped my black dragonfly on vellum, embossed it with black embossing powder and coloured one set of wings with a red marker. It's from the very old Bugs and Kisses set by Stampin' Up - I rarely use all the other stamps in this set but I still love the dragonfly. I decided to flip the sketch this week..it just kind of worked better that way!

Thanks for stopping again!

Claire x